Goodbye Blog...

I don't think anyone says it better then Peter Pan! To all my fellow classmate in EDM, and to Dr. Strange and Mr. Sullivan, I couldn't have made it through with out you! Thank you for all of the amazing support, the laughs and the occasional scream! I will miss seeing your faces on a regular basis, but it's not goodbye, it's a see you later...... until next time!

My Honest Reflection

1. Throughout this semester in EDM I have learned so much valuable information. I have truly enjoyed watching all of the videos and have learned that I love to blog! Blogging is a great way for me to get all of my thoughts out in a very non confrontational, professional manor, and I adore it! The most valuable thing that I am walking away with from this class is the wonderful connections that I have made from my EDM classmates and the world wide connections that I have made. I have learned so much as an individual and as a part of the EDM group. I have enjoyed learning the wonderful tools that google offers, and find that the ACCESS and ALEX resources will be my best friend when I get into the classroom. I still to this day will say that skype, delicious, and twitter are my least favorite tools, but can understand how some enjoy them. I LOVE VIDEO CASTS! This was one of the most challenging, yet fun things that I have learned, and will use this amazing tool to teach and continue to learn with!!! One of my favorite activities was comments4kids! I loved this project. The reason that I loved it so much is because it was about kids, and that is what I am most passionate about. It gave us all an opportunity to see the creative side that students possess!

2. I cannot think of anything more that I would have liked to have learned from this class. There was an overabundance of information that we have learned, all in which I am very grateful for. This class has opened my eyes to an entirely new world, that I am loving being a part of.

3. There are not things that I learned in this class that I will try to forget. I believe any type of knowledge is power, and am grateful for what I have learned in this class. However, there are things that were required like skype, twitter, and delicious, that I found to be on my, "I don't like this" list. I think that what we have been required to learn is invaluable to all who take this class.

4. There were a few things in this class that excited me, video cast, comments4kids, and blogging, were all things that I was very excited about, and continued to get excited about. I will say that I was extremely excited about the google earth project until I encountered a ridiculous amount of issues with it, and wanted to pull my hair out and cry by the time it was over! The reason that video cast excited me so much is because it was something that you could do and get as creative with it as you wanted. Blogging excited me because it was a way for me to express myself without doing it verbally. I love to write, so any opportunity I get to do so, I highly enjoy! Comments4kids was my favorite because it was direct interaction with my favorite thing in the entire world and that was children!!!

5. I don't think that there was anything that was required in this class that was intellectually challenging to the point that I could not accomplish it. I think in any kind of learning environment you face challenges and hardships, but that is how and when you learn the most. Life is full of challenges, but its how you overcome those challenges that will make you or break you.

6. I think that some of the videos on explaining how to accomplish something got a little out of hand and boring, but I don't think that there was ever a point in my mind where I was so bored that I wanted to just lay down and take a nap.

7. The one thing that I would change in this class is the organization of things. It seems to me like it took till about the middle of the semester for all of us to really catch on to where we were to find everything and the expectation that were required of us. I think that it would be useful to require students to attend every class, even if it does get dismissed early so that way it wouldn't take as long to catch on to the way the blog is set up or the assigned work that needed to be done. I would also take out making twitter, delicious, and skype as requirements. I think they are tools you could mention, but making us open accounts with all of them is a little absurd in my opinion.

8. I think that I am a comfortable level of being technology literate. The biggest thing for me is that I now know where to find the resources that I need if I don't understand a technological problem. I feel confident in the fact that I will be able to continue to grow my PLN and properly teach my future students on creating one as well. This class has shown me a world of resources that invaluable to further educating myself and those I come in contact with.

9. I think that by continuing to grow my PLN I will continue to be challenged in a way that will force me to further my technological literacy so I can, "keep up with the Jones." By learning to use the resources that you have taught us in this class such as ACCESS, ALEX, all google docs, and so much more I think I can actively further my literacy just by continuing to keep in close contact with my PLN members and using these resources.

Teaching how to combat Stress

As a college student I'm always stressing out about making good grades and getting my work done on time, and when finals come around I really start to stress, so I decided to teach you all how to take a few moments and combat stress.

Google Earth Project.

Italy Tour

Voice Thread on my Favorite Team!

Project 15

April 25, 2010

PLE vs my PLN

Wow what an amazing, motivated, driven student! She is the ideal student! Her PLE is outstanding, and she should be very proud of herself for what she has accomplished. I'm ashamed to admit that my PLN is not nearly as advanced as hers, but it is a a continual work in progress, and I feel has come a long way from where it was in the beginning. I feel that most of my PLN has to do with my EDM and fellow education student's, which in my opinion is wonderful. Through this class, twitter (which I'm still not a fan of) and other social networking tools I have created an over abundance of educational supporters whom I am allowed to share ideas with and learn from, and I cannot wait to learn from others! This young seventh grader has developed a world of endless opportunities, and I am so proud of what she has accomplished as such a young age!

My Sentence!

This is one of my favorite video's that I have watched this year! Wow! What an amazing thought, and how true it is. I've always worked hard to achieve my goal and try to better myself, but I have never asked myself was I better then I was yesterday, but I will going forward. I also want to incorporate this question into my classroom, and this will be a fun project that I will do with all of my students! As far as my sentence goes, it was very easy for me to pick. I've always said I wanted to make a difference, even if the difference was in one persons life, that was enough for me to have lived a fulfilled successful life. I've also said, and truly believe that in order for you do make a difference you have to be the difference. Given that, my sentence would be, "made a difference, by being the difference." This is what I will live the rest of my life by, that and, being better then I was the day before!

Google Docs Form Merged Curriculum

Recently, the University of South Alabama's Education department has been making some serious changes with a merged curriculum between the Special Education curriculum and the Elementary Education curriculum. My survey asked the burning questions of do Education Majors know about the new curriculum, will it affect them, and do they think it's a good idea. This is what I found.

61% of student's knew about the new curriculum

39% of student's did not know about the new curriculum

44% of students were leaving the Education program or were very unhappy about the changes

39% were unknown on their feelings toward the changes

17% were for the change

Although most people are unhappy about the changes an overwhelming 89% felt that the changes were a good idea and would be beneficial to both teachers and students, the other 11% felt that it would not be beneficial.

My opinion on this matter varies. I am a Special Education major whom is in love with the idea of helping student's who require extra time, patience, and attention. I feel like I was born to work with special needs children; I also feel that there is only a select few people whom have this drive and passion. This is where the problem arises. Because special needs student's require more attention and patience not all people have the drive to help them, so why force someone who doesn't share the same passion that I do to major in this area. Regular Ed teachers have the passion and drive to work with a regular classroom, and they are born to do that where I am not! I do feel with the inclusion laws that regular Ed teachers are not prepared enough to properly handle special needs student's and therefore should be required to take a few extra classes, but I don't feel that either major should be forced into learning something that they are not passionate about. I think the merged curriculum should be a choice and not a requirement.

Skype April 23, 2010

Skype as you all know is not my favorite learning tool in the world for a few different reasons. The main reason I dislike skype is because of personal preference. When I'm talking to someone and there is a drastic delay, whether it's movement, voice, or the static delay I feel like you miss a lot of pertinent information. If your in the middle of an interview or a video conference the time you have is very valuable so any type of delay is a set back. I think my personal frustrations with this is what makes me stay away from this tool, however those that have a high patience for this, it can be a great learning tool, and a great way to keep in contact with friends and family. The main way that I use skype is to keep in close contact with my cousin who is a paramedic over in Kuwait. He has been over there for over a year and when your close it's hard not to see someone's face and talk to them like you do on a regular basis. I also have used skype to keep in contact with my family and friends whom live all over the USA. My most recent interaction with skype is a video conference that I partook in with Kenya and their school systems over there. This is a great way to learn in a multi-cultural way. Skype also offers a conversation or calling tool that is convenient to talk back and forth with someone without video, my personal opinion is that the phone works better and there isn't a delay. There is also a chat method that you can use on there. Overall skype is a good learning tool for students and teachers, but I think its a personal preference if you like to use it or not.

Project 14

Ryan Renyold's

April 18, 2010

EDM 310

! What a crazy semester this has been. It's been a fun yet bumpy ride. I must say that out of everything that was required for this class the one thing that I have enjoyed the most is comments for kids, especially Kindergarten Kids! I believe that the main reason this has been my favorite activity is because it is centered around the one thing we all have in common and that is students. What an amazing idea it was to create a blog that using one sentence that each student would write to document their day. This has been such a heartwarming experience to learn about these students and motivates me to do something like this with my classroom. I think that a lot of us get wrapped up in day to day activities that we call life and we forget the real reason that we partake in an activity like comments for kids. When I look at the pure innocents that each child possesses I am bewildered and enthused that I have had the privilege to join in such an event. The students that are able to partake in such an activity as social networking and embracing a world of endless possibilities to build self confidence, empowerment, embrace different learning methods, enhance creativity and acceptance of other view points! These are all qualities that are invaluable to our students and children. It is my wish that all students would have the opportunity to partake in something as wonderful as this, and that they are able to walk away with endless learning opportunities!

PLN 2

My PLN hasn't changed a lot from the last time that I've blogged. The major differences would be that I have made new connections around the world, whom have taught me that building a PLN is an ongoing process that takes a lot of time and energy. This is something that I will continue to do throughout the rest of my life, in order to grow as a person, teacher, and continuous learner. I've inquired following a lot of people on twitter whom give me new idea and insights as to what is going on in the world of technology. My PLN took off to a slow start, but I know, with time and effort it will turn into something great!

Comments for Kids April 11, 2010

Breaking News is such a great idea! Creating an app for an iPhone to follow a class blog is unbelievable to me. What a wonderful and useful tool this will be to the students! I cannot wait to see it!

April 4, 2010

The Innovative Teacher

WOW! What an amazing blog! I was amazed at all the great information that is on this blog. It has helpful hits from ways to "NOT" do something, to drawing in google docs! This blog talks about why social media is so important in the school systems, and three ways lessons taught by banning cell phones. The three reasons states are as followed.

1-It teaches them that they don’t deserve to be empowered with technology the same way adults are.
2-Tools that adults use all the time in their everyday lives to communicate are not relevant to their own communication needs.
3-They can’t be trusted (or taught, for that matter) to use phones appropriately in school.

Now, I'm not sure I fully understand how we are supposed to teach the importance of social media, yet ban cell phones from classrooms since cell phones are such a huge part of the social media network.. Empowered to me is such a touchy subject, because as teachers it is our job to "empower" our students so why would we want to take some of that empowerment away. In my opinion, banning the use of cell phones really isn't an issue of empowerment, it's a issue of entitlement, and that is something that does need to be banned. Although this is a topic I'm on the fence about, there is so much other great information on this blog that I do agree with whole heartedly. Over all this blog is filled with information that any teacher would love to know, and is something that I feel more students and teachers should learn about.

Time Toast- 311

Here is my Time Toast Time Line for most 311 albums that they have produced!!!

311

April 11, 2010

The Zax

Dr. Suess has always been one of my favorite authors because he teaches valuable lessons to people of all ages in such a positive way, that you cannot help but re-evaluate your life and what is evolving around you. When watching Dr. Seuss, The Zax, so many things ran through my mind, the biggest one is the one that I've seen this past week in our local school systems. For another class I have been in and out of elementary classrooms watching teachers struggle to keep students engaged and blowing off those whom they feel need "special attention" and failing to keep the same expectations of them, that they the teachers hold for all the other students. As a future Special Education Teacher, what I would bare witness too was very discouraging and heartbreaking, but these teachers are so set it their, "ZAX" ways that they refuse to see that they need to hold the expectations of all children to the same level, and by not doing so they are doing a huge disservice to all their students. Being a student myself I see a constant struggle between teachers and students, teachers yelling I want it done this way, students yelling back it's not working or I don't agree! In my opinion there has to be some sort of common ground compromise where we the students recognize that the teachers are here to educate us, and where the teachers recognize that we need to have our minds stimulated to learn in ways other then what they are use too. As students and future teachers, I think that it is important for us to listen to what our future students have to say. I think it is important for us to learn as much from them and they are learning from us. I think that we need to treat all students fair and hold the same expectations, and challenge our students in a way that will encourage and empower them. It's the twentieth century people, learn to compromise, engage in active learning, and always be ready and willing to change and accommodate the learning styles of all students!

Landslide

Endless opportunity!!!! That is my simple answer to the question, why is it important for students to post their work to a blog!!! The internet and the connections that you make on here are unbelievable. What a wonderful learning experience and an amazing family that you create when you open your mind to a world you are unfamiliar with. As anyone who knows me can tell you that I feel there are parts of this class that I find to be a little bit ridiculous when it comes to requirements. It's nice to know about twitter and skype and delicious, but using them, not my favorite thing! On the other hand, I feel that this class has opened my eyes to a world that I would have continued to stay away from. I would not have blogged, I would not have created amazing learning network, I would not have known about all of the amazing resources out there such as ALEX and ACESS, I would not have connected with so many amazing students from all over the world, and the ps22 class would not have had the opportunity to sing with Stevie Nicks if it weren't for all of this amazing technology and the internet! I have learned so much from this class, I have made amazing connections with teachers and students here and thousands of miles away and for that I am very grateful! It's all about endless opportunity!

A Geeky Momma's Blog

A Geeky Momma's Blog is one of the neatest blogs that I have seen. I think the reason that I like it so much is because it's a real person explaining real issues, in a very common way. Lee's post are very easy to read because they are filled with real emotion and real concerns, not a bunch of fluff! This semester I've read a lot of different post, some filled with amazing information, but so professional that they lose value in my opinion. This blog has post about all different issues that teachers face, what she means by having a "geeky" momma's blog, and Earth Day suggestions! There are video casts done with other students, and games played like, "Are you smarter then a forth grader?" One of my favorite parts of this blog is how passionate Lee is about getting your students involved with blogging! Blogging is something that I will definitely continue to do, especially when I get my classroom so I can blog with my students! A Geeky Momma's Blog was a great blog to read and connect with on a very down to earth level! I love it!

Comment for Kids April 11, 2010

This weeks comments for kids were about your favorite thing at camp! Kingston talked about sticking stick five Tim Tams in her mouth, which reminded me of playing chubby bunny! Camp is something that I never went to as a child, but it seems to be a great social networking experience. There was also a short video that went along with this blog, that had great music and gave a great visual sense of what camp was like!

Comments for Kids April 4, 2010

I commented on Taimana's video blog about swimming like a fish and how much fun it was. He said that the next time he goes he wants to swim like a whale, which should be so much better! This video cast was to practice reading, and he did an excellent job!! It was a great idea to show students progress in their reading abilities.

April 3, 2010

It's amazing to me what the internet can to do bring people together! My heart was completely warmed by watching Kaia's video pictures and her reading the book back to another fellow students daughter! I've been concerned for a while, that me following different blogs, working on a PLN, and trying to further my educational resources was a failing attempt, but reading what Mr. Raisdana wrote about his daughters blog taking off re-established my faith in what I'm trying to accomplish as a future teacher, and that is to educate myself on so many different levels using the helpful advice from those all over the world. I am bewildered by the encouragement that a few voice threads and videos can re establish in a person! This truly was an inspiring blog too read and be a part of!

March 28, 2010

Well first I have to say that Dan seems like he should be voice personality. He needs his own radio show or something like that, or like he should narrate documentaries. Now that I've stated my opinion on what Dan's future career should be, I have to say I agree with him completely on the foundations of education and Universities always changing. I think that Universities and schools were a great foundation for or, "launching pad" for the way we learn today, but times are changing. We do live in a world where we don't have to memorize facts because we have those facts at our finger tips, we do however live in a world that is ever evolving and chaining and it's creativity that we are wanting. Its very discouraging to me that creative programs are being taken out of schools and our educational programs, when I firmly believe that allowing a student to be creative is what is going to make their learning flourish. Our educational systems need to change and put the creativity back in the classrooms, or the world will leave our educational systems behind.

I can completely relate to Morgan Bayda when she talks about getting cheated in school. I don't know how many hundreds, possibly even thousands of dollars I have spent on books, that I don't even open, or on classes that I don't have to attend because everything I need is online. I do go to my classes however, and sit through hours of pointless lectures, drinking coffee like it's going out of style, forcing myself to stay awake by taking notes, and I do is all because I am paying for it!!!! Education is a priceless gift, that costs so much money, but I agree that Universities are putting a hold on the true potential of their students. Take the University that this EDM 310 class is attending and the new merged curriculum that it is forcing it's education majors to partake in. I am shocked and really very appalled that it would even consider merging Elementary Education and Special Education into one. I feel that by doing this, the University is forcing students to practice what they are not passionate about. It is taking students whom have the love and drive to work with Reg Ed students, and marketing them into a field that they are not as passionate about, and the same goes with Special Education Majors. Why force a Special Education major into a classroom that is Reg Ed, when that's not where their hearts are. OK, yes I agree that teachers need to be better prepared to deal with inclusion in their classroom, but at the end of the day, by forcing two people to switch roles, we are doing a dis-service to the students we will be teaching. The University is taking away our choice as to what we want to learn, and forcing upon us a curriculum that we are not passionate about. This I feel ties hand in hand with taking creative learning out of the classroom. Our educational systems are so focused on teaching us to regurgitate facts that it is taking away from our abilities to be creative, to learn and teach, "out side the box." If it wasn't for creative minds we wouldn't have computers, or the internet, email, facebook, twitter, skype ect. Universities need to allow their students to learn in a creative way, what they want to learn, and support what we are wanting to do. They need to support and change with their students and the world, or we will be forced to leave them behind, and do it without the great, "launch pad."

March 14, 2010 ALEX & ACCESS

WOW! What a great resource these two sights are. These are both great tools to help educate teachers and students. I love how Alabama has tools like this for their teachers. I think that may favorite part of ALEX was how simple it was to navigate through. You can create lesson plans watch and share podcasts, communicate with teachers all over the state, to share and learn new ideas. Alex seems to be a great support site for teachers, while ACCESS seems to be a great resource for students and teachers, which is also great in my opinion. I love how it offers different courses, and supports the proper learning and preparation for these tests and courses. The fact that it allows all students all over the state of Alabama to participate in this distant learning is amazing. ACCESS gives teachers and students both a great way to expand their learning, and learn in different ways other then just the typical classroom setting which is something that I feel is very important in today's society, but is lacking in many classrooms. Not all students learn the same and both ACCESS and ALEX gives teacher and students a way of being creative when it comes too learning and teaching. Brainstorming ideas is a great way to "step out of the box," which is what good, successful teachers and students need to do.

Comment for Kids, St. Patrick's Day!!

The students blog that I commented on was on St. Patrick's Day, which is one of my favorite holidays, but for reasons that should not be said on a students blog. This student was inquiring what readers knew about St. Patrick's Day, which I thought was a great way to possibly gain information, or learn what stereotypical ideas people have about a holiday. I thought this was a great learning tool!

Comments for Kids Kindergarden Kids Day 117

I love this blog!!! I'm a follower of Kindergarden Kids, and I highly enjoy reading what they do throughout their day! I got a comment from the kindergardeners the other day and they were so excited that I had their caterpillar on my blog! I thought it was the cutest thing ever! I still think that this is one of the neatest ways to track what a kindergarden student does, it will be great for them to look back on! This is a blog that I will continue to follow, and I plan on creating on for my students when I start to teach.

EDM 310 Class Survey

Here is my class survey! If you haven't taken it, please do!! My survey was about the new merged curriculum that Elementary Education Majors and Special Education Majors are facing. I found that a lot of students are unaware of the changes being made, yet feel that as long as it doesn't affect them it's a good idea!
Merged Curriculum

March 7, 2010

Randy Pausch's Lecture

On my does this man know how to give a speech. He is phenomenal at what he does! I'm not going to lie, when I read that I had to watch an hour long video, I was not to excited about it. Especially because most lectures, in my experience, are boring, but not Randy Pausch! Giving speeches that are interesting is something that I feel is not done nearly enough. I think that dreams and aspirations are what makes the world turn, and MR. Pausch demonstrates this in an amazing way. Before I get into the details of what I enjoyed so much about this speech, I must applaud Mr. Pausch for the creativity, inspirations, and well delivered speech that he presented in this video, and how he gave so much credit to those that inspired him.

The first thing that really struck me when watching this video was when he started talking about his football coach, and how one day that the coach was on him constantly. Because of this, the coach was showing Randy Pausch how he cared about him and his success. I couldn't agree with this more! As a child, I always felt like I was being challenged, and most of the time, I felt it wasn't in a good, positive way. Looking back on it now that I'm older, I realize that the reason that I was being challenge, picked on, pushed, whatever you would like to call it, was not for any negative reasons, but instead it was because those people believed in me, and wanted me to succeed and whatever I attempted. They never gave up on me, and because of that I've been able to succeed at so many wonderful things in my life. I will always and forever be grateful to those who pushed me so hard. As a future teacher, I feel it is my job to inspire and push a student to reach for their dreams no matter how big or small they may seem to be. As a teacher, you become an advocate and a cheerleader for your students, and letting them know that they can do anything they set their minds too is a very important part of that role.

I love how Mr. Pausch didn't obtain all of his goals but he did end up learning more life long lessons from that then he did from succeeding at them all. This is something that I think more children should be exposed too. It's OK to fail, as long as you tried your best and you learned form it. I know some of my greatest life lessons have come from failure. "Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted." Wow!!! How amazing is that quote, and its so true!

The next really profound piece of advice that Mr. Pausch said was, "Brick walls are there for a reason: they let us prove how badly we want things." Like any human, I get very saddened when something that I've been working towards isn't working out the way that I've planned. A lot of times I wonder if the brick walls are there to make me change the path I'm taking because I'm not supposed to be traveling in this particular direction. This has always been a set back for me, wondering if I'm doing the right thing, if I made the right decision. Well, thank goodness I'm extremely stubborn, because I always figure out a way around those brick walls, and usually learn the most when I'm trying to figure out how to hurdle them.

I think that the biggest lesson I learned from watching MR. Pausch's video is to have passion for what you do, believe in what your doing, and do it with pride. It was obvious to me that Mr. Pausch went through a lot of trials and tribulations, especially with his BVW course, but the team work, passion, and creativity that he created in those students and observers is amazing to me and very admirable. Mr. Pausch has an unbelievable outlook on life and education that is outstanding to me. You can tell that he has touched many peoples lives in a very positive way, and as a teacher that's what your number one goal should be. I hope as a teacher, I can make as big of an impact on the lives of the ones that I teach and Mr. Pausch has on the lives of those he has taught. This was a very inspirational vido, and I hopefully will take his outlook on teaching with me, into my classroom

PLN on Twitter

Well I think it's safe to say, that I have not been a big fan of twitter since day one, or should I say since I heard about what "twittering" did to a certian celebrity couples relationship. Never the less, I decided to give it a try when creating my PLN. My PLN is definetly a work in progress but is slowly coming along. My PLN is on teachers and technology. I feel like my PLN really started when I started the EDM 310 class. Using fellow classmates, Mr. Sullivan, and iTunesU for USA has been a great way to keep my PLN local. I've also became a follower of Mr. Warlick twitter page, whom is my comments for teacher, teacher. I also follow google, and what they are doing with technology, and tedtalks because they have so many good video's and links to use as a resource. I have also joined classroom 2.0, which I have not done a much with, but it will be a great resource for my PLN. I also follow Kindergarden Kids, which gives me great ideas on what to do with students.

Comments for Kids March 4, 2010

Oh my how cute this blog is. I love the idea of tracking what the kindergarden class is doing throughout their year. It's neat to see what goes on in the mind of a five year old! The bird houses and the ducks that they made were also so adorable! I love how creative these students are allowed to be!

A Blog You All Should Follow!!!

For those of you that do not know, our very own Mr. Sullivan has his own blog that is filled with amazing video's and information on the latest technology. I highly urge you all to check it out, especially if you are a Special Education Major!

Mr. Sullivan's Blog

2 Million Pounds of Ice... Google Presentation

Here is my google presentation! Hope you all enjoy!!!

Feb 28, 2010

Dr. Richard E. Miller Part 1

Virtual books I think are amazing, and a great way to save books that are not being published anymore and make them readily available to millions of people by just a click of a mouse. I liked how this video demonstrated how you can not only read the material, but you can watch videos that go along with that particular topic. Although I feel that virtual books are a great way to gain pertinent knowledge, I also feel that there is something remarkable about physically flipping through the ancient pages and a well used book. Books offer a history; it's almost like the story they hold capture you and pull you in. To me, you cannot gain that experience with virtual books, and not to mention, my eyes get so sleepy after staring at a screen for too long. I think that virtual books save a lot of money, and help with the environmental side of things, and they offer an unlimited supply of resources. Although they are very useful, I just cannot get over the experience a person gains by actually flipping through the pages of a book, and that to me is a priceless experience.

Part 2

I look at technology today and it amazes me how far we have come in just a short time. I remember when I first got the internet, and now I have it on my phone because I feel like I cannot live without it. As a student, I spend probably ninty percent of my time on the computer. Most of this is reading and researching different topics for school, I find it is so convenient. It's so interesting and amazing how I can skype in on a lesson on the other side of the world if I wanted to, or long onto iTunesU and have lesson on the different parts of a heart from another University and in that lesson I'm looking at a real heart. The way we are educated today is unlike anything I could have ever imagined. I think it is amazing and so interesting all of the wonderful resources that are out there when it comes to technology, yet I can't help but wonder if it ALL is worth it. In listening to Dr. Richard E. Miller's Part 2 video, I wonder if the amount of technology the world is creating is doing us more harm then good! When will technology go so far that it takes the actual teacher out of the classroom? All of us who are in school now to teach, could be out of a job if it goes too far. How about students that cannot afford all of the technologies that are required? Here at USA a nursing major, who is involved with clinical is too busy to have a full time job and most rely on their student loan checks to help with bills, yet they are required to purchase an itouch and two different medical books that need to be installed on it for their classes. Most of these students cannot afford it. I know I wouldn't be able to. So with all of these advances when will students be able to afford all of the technologies that are required at Universities? Don't get me wrong, I am so grateful for the tools and resources that we have today, I just have a few concerns with them also.

Wendy Drexler

First of all, I have to say that I love the simple creativity that went into creating this video. The drawings and cut outs were great! The information in this video reminded me a lot of what our EDM class does. It's more of a self taught, reach out for help form other students, and force yourself to be self educated kind of class. I believe you never learn until you do it yourself, but I also feel that some guidance is needed. I do like how free you are to look and learn in so many different ways, which is what this video was all about. I see all of the benefits that come from self teaching and connected learning like what we are doing in EDM, and I do like how it forces you to make learning connections with people from all over the world. Because connected learning is something that you are forced to do on your own, it takes me back to concerns I've had in the past, when will technology take us so far, that it takes the teacher out of the classroom? This is a question that I'm concerned about since teaching is a field I'm entering into, and I'm not real sure on the answer to this question yet. What I do know is teachers are needed and technology is needed, and there has to be a way that both an co-exist in a happy beneficial way.

Toward a New Future of Whatever!

This is my second time watching this video and I must say, I've enjoyed it both times I've watched it. Michael Wesch is a brilliant speaker in my opinion, and gives such great information. I love how he talks about trends and what is socially expectable throughout the different generations. I think that it is so true that people are always searching for self recognitions and identity. In a society that is based so much on judgement it is hard to put yourself out there and make yourself known, but without doing this, how do you find yourself, how do you become a confident person? I find myself relating to those who are in the video cast. I panic about what I'm wearing or how I look all the time but to broad cast myself all over the internet for millions to see me, in a society I'm so new too, well the panic more then doubled. Its amazing to me though that no matter how many insecurities we have, no matter how hard we are trying to fit in, others feel the same way, and because of this, we as a society should be proud of who we are and try to teach others to to the same!!!

David Warlick, 2 cents worth. Comments for Teachers!

David Warlick is a teacher whom travels all over giving speeches on different ways and kinds of technology. He is a very busy man is appears to me, whom is always on the go. I couldn't help but be jealous of how much traveling he does, since traveling the world is my life's dream. What I enjoyed most about Mr. Warlick's blog is that he not only talks about what he does when he travels, but he also adds in some personal adventures as well. One topic that Mr. Warlick talked about was talking walks around new area's that he is traveling too. He talked about how refreshing it was to get out and breath the fresh air, and how he wasn't a huge fan of treadmills. I had to admit, I am a fan of the treadmill, when it comes to working out, but when the stresses of life get to me I turn to a nice long walk as well. There is something so incredible about strolling around an area, and taking in all of the scenery, breathing in the fresh air, and making note to what is going on around you. I think I come up with some of my best ideas and always do my greatest thinking when I'm on a long walk! I like the humor that Mr. Warlick used while blogging about his conferences. I loved how he said he was competing for the attention of his peer with chocolate cake. The facts that he gives about technology is also something I found very interesting. Out of all the blogs that I have read from Mr. Warlick, my favorite has been the one where he spent over thirty minutes tying to get his computer sound and presentation to work, and he couldn't, then realized he forgot to charge the battery. I loved to see that this very intelligent man, whom is so smart when it comes to technology makes silly little mistakes as well. I've highly enjoyed reading Mr. Warlick's blog, it's very interesting.

Comments for Kids Catch-Up!!

So, because of being completely unaware, I have not been blogging about my comments for kids, although I have been commenting, so this blog is meant to catch me up on the lack of blogging on the last four weeks! The first week that we did comments for kids, I commented on a young students blog about Fall, and why fall was his favorite time of year. Fall is one of my favorite times of the year also. Joseph S and I agreed on many of the same reasons as to why fall is so special to us. A lot of it had to do with sports, the weather, family and food! Joseph wrote and exceptionally great blog, and has a lot of writing talent.


The second weeks comments for kids was on a class learning an Australian song called the Kookaburra. I thought that teaching students a cultural tradition like this is a great way to expand a students learning. It was a fun positive way to teach students about other cultures and broaden their horizons.

The third weeks comments for kids was on a young student named Rowanda. Rowanda, stated in her video that she loved apples and wanted to learn to write stories better. Rowanda, was a little shy on her video, but did a great job expressing what she wanted to work on throughout the school year.

And finally this weeks comments for kids was on two different short writings. One was on family, and how important they should be to a person. I was impressed with the amount of maturity and the understanding of how truly important family is and always should be. The other was a riddle about a creature and you were supposed to figure out what it was. It was very short, yet very descriptive. This student had a lot of creativity coming up with something like this. I was very impressed.

Feb 21, 2001

iTunes University

I cannot believe how cool iTunes University is! It has so much information to offer. I think that it is amazing how teachers and students can post so many different learning materials, and share their knowledge with the world. Anything and everything that you could possibly think of is on iTunes University. What I think was the most amazing about this learning tool is that it is user friendly to all people. I love how it has VoiceOver for those who are visually impaired, and how for students that have physical or motor skill needs, iTunes allows those students to be involved in a classroom environment, yet they can learn at their own pace! I think that that is an amazing thing!

While I was busy playing around on iTunes U, I went to what is on iTunes U, and found a list of subjects that you can click on with a complete array of different colleges offering learning tips, and educational information. I went to a video on bridging the gap between students home and leisurely life and their educational life. This video talked about how bringing in activities that students enjoy doing outside of the classroom as learning tool inside of the classroom. I've always believed that if you can make learning a game, something more then just a lecture time, and yes I'll use the cliche, teach "out side of the box," then they will learn, and remember, instead of memorizing and forgetting. In this particular video, students were allowed to engage in playing guitar hero. Now, after watching several videos, I'm not sure how they feel that playing guitar hero is an educational idea, but I do agree with the teachers that spoke that it would create better class unity, and encouragement amongst the students.

Another are that I went to was test stress reduction, which as a student, and a future teacher, I thought might be a good area to explore. One of the short video casts that I watched was on how to help Navy Seals pass their training, and actually become a Seal. This video said that they were taught four different brain or stress control techniques. Those techniques were goal settings, mental rehearsal, self talk, and arousal control. The gentleman speaking on this topic, said that these are four skills that he teaches and has been teaching for years to help students prepare for test taking. I think the thing I enjoyed most about this cast, was that it teaches you to focus on what you can do, and not on what you cannot do. I think that this is a valuable lesson that teachers need to instill in their students. It will help so much with self confidence, and that is something that students lack so much of in todays world.

Over all iTunes U is something that I will be using a lot when I start teaching, and will use now to further my education. I think that it is an amazing tool that everyone should know about.



Alice Christie

Throughout my blogging experience I was a little worried about internet safety, but it really started to concern me when we started Comments for Kids. I wondered, if a semi-technology intelligent persons, such as myself, can access these children, what about all the technology savvy weirdos that are out there to wanting to harm children doing. Student blogs and podcasts have got to be a bad mans or woman's dream, and the thought of that makes me sick to my stomach. When I visited Alice Christie's site there was an entire presentation on internet safety, and because of my concerns, I decided to educate myself on how these precious children are being protected. To my surprise when I started this presentation, it was more about facts oh children using the internet, how they are using it, the percentage of children usage as a particular age, and what teens are using the internet for and how it makes their lives easier. By about the twenty fifth slide, I finally got to internet safety, and the number one way is internet monitoring software, and parental supervision. It amazed me the statistics shown on parents not discussing internet safety with their children, some not knowing what their children were doing on the internet period. As a future teacher, the safety of my students is my number one priority, and I hope that I can help parents know and learn what they can do to help protect their children on the internet but using NetSmartz and other tool such as this. The information and the presentations that are on this site are so valuable that I wish every student, parent, teacher, and all others could take fifteen minutes of their day and educate themselves on internet safety. This site is filled with outstanding information, and is a site I plan on visiting on a regular basis to continue to educate myself.

Feb 14, 2010

Who's Been Messin with My Wikipedia? Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia, and Wired

I'll never forget when I first started to use the internet as a child, all the adults in my life warned me not to trust everything that I would read on the internet. Teachers were always telling their classes, don't go to this site for a reference, "It's unreliable!" As the internet became a more popular, and almost a necessity of life, the less I would hear the famous, "it's unreliable," quote! As I was reading this blog, it was like I was having flash backs to when I was a child. I cannot deny the fact that I was in complete shock when I read some of the sources that were editing Wikipedia. You would assume that a website would be reliable if people from the CIA, or members of congress are doing the editing, but that does not seem to be the case. I was in disbelief when I read that Congressmen were editing their own entries, which I shouldn't have been since there is scandal after scandal in the news about all different types of political party members. I guess if they can pull off some of the things you hear in the news, why wouldn't they edit themselves on the internet to look better!?!? I believe that if sources of this stature are editing Wikipedia, then they should let viewers know. Why hide who's editing these pages? Well, the answer to that question became very clear to me when I read Scanner Tracks Who's Changing What on Wikipedia. It's unbelievable to me that Wal-Mart changes so drastically what they say about wages and what employees should make, or that Corporations are allowed to delete information involving integrity of that company. I was very upset when I read that one company erased information involving them in environmental disasters. With the use of the Wikipedia Scanner, I hope that the information on Wikipedia does become more reliable. I guess it's safe to say that all the adults in my life were right when they said, "It's unreliable!"


What I've Learned This Year

I wish college would teach this life experience to new teachers instead of teaching standards! standards! standards! I learned way back, before I even decided I wanted to be an educator, that education is all about standards. I do not think that I need to pay thousands of dollars to learn that lesson. I knew how important standards were when I was still in High School taking test, after test, after test, my junior year. I decided to be an educator because I wanted to make a difference in a child's life, I wanted to be that one person, that when they are grown up, looks back and thinks, she really believed in me and helped me get to where I am today. I want to educate children and let them know that learning truly is fun! I want to be the best teacher I can be, and I don't feel like learning standards is what will make me accomplish my dream. I feel that knowing, "how to read the crowd," will help me become a great teacher. Knowing that not every student is going to learn the same way or at the same speed, that will make me a great teacher. Understanding that sometimes you have to change things up a little in order to make progress in the classroom, that will make me a great teacher. Listening to my students, co-workers, and superiors, that will make me a great teacher. Having passion for what I do, that will make me a great teacher. I wish every person, in every classroom, that is entering into the field of education, could have an experience like Mr. McClung, before they had full control of their own classroom. The lessons that this teacher experienced, are lessons that cannot be taught from a book, or a little bit of observing. These are lessons of experience, these are the lessons that teachers should be taught.

Creating Digital Video Reflections

I loved what this teacher did! I love watching things more then I do reading them, I seem to learn better from watching, it gives me a visual component to look back upon and recall what I was learning. Doing digital video reflections is so much better then typing a response to an assignment I think! Part of the reason I like watching better then reading, is because sometimes words can be taken out of context, but when you watch what a person is saying, you get to see their facial expressions which makes the message more clear a lot of times. The pictures, and the video were an awesome touch as well! I think that since technology is such an important, fast changing epidemic, every classroom should have a "Digital Video Reflection" area! Great idea!!

Feb 7, 2010

Langwitches Blog

I think it's safe to say that most people are uncomfortable talking about a topic that they are unfamiliar with, especially when it comes to technology. I know I always feel very out of place when I'm entered into a conversation that I know nothing about, but I also like listening to what the others are saying, always hoping that I can learn from the conversation. When I was reading Langwitches Blog, I understood and sympathized with the parents that got the "glazed" eye look. Although I sympathized with them, I feel that it is wonderful that they are learning about all the technologies that are dancing around this big world, and how these technologies are teaching kids the same basics and a much more in depth way. To most, myself included, I didn't understand the importance of blogging or teaching wiki, or skyping especially podcasting, but I now see the importance after reading his blog. My goodness these tools teach a lot of hands on life experience that these students will need when they hit the real world. Now, I'm still personally not a fan of podcasts, but I do think they are a great why to practice auditory skills, literacy, presentation skills, and communications skills. Overall, all the tools that I thought were nice to know how to do but kinda unnecessary to teach in a classroom, I now feel are very necessary and very important to teach!

David Tuss- The Trap

Oh how I do love the way this man thinks! I don't think I could agree with him more! Educational traps are all over the place. I truly feel that half the reason that kids get annoyed or bored with school is because most of the time it is boring. Teachers are forced to "buy a program" and teach directly from a book. To me, teaching from a book and not adding any creative process behind it, is forcing students to memorize and forget, and where is the learning in that. I feel as future educators we really need to find a way to teach the standards, but teach them in a way that students are going to enjoy and remember, and take that lesson and apply it to life. I really believe that technology based tools like podcasts, blogging, skyping, and so on are tools that we can use to teach the standards in a creative way.

January 31, 2010 Podcasts

Smart-board Lesson on iTunes

I'm not sure how I feel about podcasts yet. I'm a very visual learner, so I like to see what is going on and who is talking on the other end of what I'm listening too. As I was listening to the Smart-board Lesson Plan podcast I found that there was a lot of valuable information that I will be using to further my education and will take that to the classroom with me. During the time that I listened they talked about a web site called dumdum.com. This web site is for expanding your education to other students and professionals using a skype kind of set up but modified to benefit teachers and students, and give them the opportunity to use a white board, or the smart-boards where you cannot use those things with skype. With all the great information, I found it very distracting that the gentleman talking was ordering lunch in the middle of his broadcast, and because of that, I was highly distracted and could not focus on all the information that he was giving. That was something I was not a big fan of. You could hear the hustle of drive through traffic and the employees talking also. I just found all of that unprofessional, and very distracting. This was my first podcast experience and so far, I don't like it. This was a very bad impression.

Kid Cast Podcast #62

Video podcasting versus audio podcasting, is something in my opinion that is about convenient and what you prefer. For my learning ability, video podcasting would probably be my preference, yet I understand both sides have a lot to offer. I completely agree with Dan, that audio podcasting forces those broadcasting to be very descriptive and detailed about what they are talking about. Description is something that I feel all educators should be great at doing, and audio podcasting I feel is a fantastic tool to help teach and expand your ability. Video on the other hand you can see what your describing, which to me, helps me remember what I'm learning. Video podcasting is a great way to get a message across if a person is not so expressive in voice, or they have a model or video that will help teach the topic of choice. Dan stated the quote, "If a picture is worth a thousand words then a video must be worth a million," and I have to agree with him. This podcast has left a better impression on me, but I'm still not sure I'm sold on them.

Macbreak Weekly

First I have to say that I shouldn't be surprised that there is a podcast dedicated solely to mac products, but I am. This podcast, which was podcast 177, has to be my favorite that I've listened to so far. I loved how there is more than one person talking, they had a fantastic introduction to the podcast, there is a lot of humor and good chemistry between the people speaking, and it was interesting to listen too. I loved how there was discussion of the naming of the ipad, it was humorous debate which I love! I think that if I can find an audio podcast that has this kind of humor and is on a topic that I highly enjoy listening too, I might just become a huge fan of podcasting!

This Week in Photography

All hope I had for podcasting was almost lost when I listened to this podcast. Yes there were more than one person speaking, but there was no energy, no chemistry, and poor humor attempts in this podcast. I love photograph it’s a huge hobby of mine and I spent two and a half years of my life learning all there is to know about cameras and all that goes with them. I love listening to people who are enthusiastic about photography talk about it. This podcast was not enjoyable to me at all. It was hard to hear all of the guests who were speaking; some were way louder than others. This podcast was podcast 126, and it was about face detection in cameras. They had a good time talking about this subject and had plenty of poor jokes when they finally got into the subject, but this again, is not a podcast I would listen too on a regular basis. I think podcasts need to have humor but it needs to be professional humor if the podcast is educational. The audio was of poor quality and so was the entire broadcast in my opinion.

In Summary

Overall my experience with podcasts, would be that they are extremely useful tools that are a great way to educate, learn, and share information. I think that there needs to be a sense of professionalism, humor, edict, clear audio, and enthusiasm to make a good podcast. Although I have yet to find a podcast that I find thoroughly enjoyable, I will continue to search and see what I can find!

January 24, 2010

Social Media Count

I cannot believe how rapid the numbers grow within just a few seconds. The statistics on youtube downloads and facebook are unreal. I thought I had a small understanding of how much the internet and the tools it supplies were being utilized, but this just blew my mind. I mean sixty new blogs posted in five seconds! Thats just crazy to me. Two hundred and ninety eight iPhone apps were downloaded in those five seconds also. Technology is a great tool that is used at a wide range, this media count proves that.

It's OK to be Technology Illiterate

While, I don't fully understand the comparison made between math and reading, (I'm not any good at math, and no I'm not proud of it,) I do feel that knowing the basics of technology is something that everyone should know. Technology is growing at such a rapid speed in the world, and lets face it, technology rules our world, therefor you have to have some idea and understanding of how to use it. Any teacher, who is passionate about what they do, and truly has a desire to help children learn and excel, would and should be willing to gain as much knowledge as possible to help aid in a child's success, and to me this means learning all aspects of their desired teaching specialty and the basics of technology. Knowledge is power. Yes, teachers have a lot on their plate, but I would think that understanding how to use a computer would help calm down the stress level.

It's not the Technology

I agree with Ms Hines. Technology is an important part of our society, economy, and culture, but it's not the key ingredient to successful teaching or learning. The enthusiasm of the person teaching it and the ability to communicate the points needed to be learned in more then one way is the main ingredient to successful teaching. I think that for anything to be taught in a successful manner the person teaching has to have passion for what they are doing. Without passion what is the point? The world spins on technology, so I do think that it is important to be familiar and, "semi" up to date with the latest technology, but to teach successfully passion is more important the technological smarts.


A vision of Students Today

A vision of students today, is something that I can relate to completely. I'm not only a full time students, but I work full time also. I will be in debt up to my eyeballs from student loans, I pay hundreds of dollars for books that professors require, yet they never require us to open them, and half my teachers know I exist, but could never put "the name with the face." I also have to be a multi-tasker, or nothing will get accomplished in my life. Even though I have all of these stresses of life, I am a lucky one. I am lucky to have the opportunity to attend school and obtain a career of my choice. I am lucky to be able to voice my opinion when needed and come and go as I please. The stresses that are in my life, are stresses that I have chose to inflict upon my life, and I am lucky to have them.

January 17, 2010 We "don't grow into creativity we grow out of it." -Ken Robinson

Digital Students

It's refreshing to see teachers finding creative ways to teach students. I've always felt that creativity is a way of empowerment. By giving students the control of learning in ways that they enjoy is going to teach them life long lessons that they will never forget. Step by step guides does not teach a student, but giving them material to research and and brainstorm ways of figuring a problem out teaches those students for life. It gives students a sense of pride when they can take ownership and teach others what they have learned. To often students are forced to memorized things that they could careless about, and as soon as they do not need that information anymore, they forget it. How is that really teaching? In my opinion, this teacher from Georgia has successful teaching figured out. Giving students the ability to learn the way that they enjoy will teach students material that they will never forget, and that is what education is about.

Ken Robinson

I feel that it would be a safe bet to say, that up till this point in my life, the speech given my Ken Robinson is the most inspirational speech I have heard involving children and their creativity. Children are our future, by taking away the arts and the creativity that these children posses is criminal in my opinion. Face it, when it's time for me to retire, they are going to be the ones telling me whether or not this will be a possibility. Creativity is something that children enjoy, it gives them the power to use their imagination, to teach us adults something highly important which is the way that they think, the way they learn, and the way they can educate others. I feel if we focus on allowing children to be more creative, and less computerized, the world would take an enjoyable change for the better. Creativity is empowerment!

Did you know..3.0?

Oh, how the world changes! Did you know 3.0, blew my mind with facts about technology.. I'm ashamed to admit that I do not read the news paper except for approximately five times a year. I do pride myself in the fact that I watch the morning news, and because of this I always felt like I was an up to date person, understanding the advances that are being made around the world. I always knew that some other countries were more advanced in education then America was, and that the economy is terrible trouble, but I did not know that 25% of India's highest IQ's is greater then America's, or that we are preparing students for jobs that do not even exist. How about the 2010 dictionary has five times as many words then in Shakespeare time. The scariest part of this is that new technology doubles every two years and by 2050, there will be a computer smarter then the human brain! I'm starting to wonder why a college education is so important when in forty to fifty years, there will be no need to have human labor when computers will be doing everything for us. Don't get me wrong, I am so very grateful for the technology that we have today, and I do feel it is necessary to continue to make advances, but maybe we should slow it down a little. The final question in the video was, "What does all this mean?" To me, simply put, it means technology is going to erase then entire human race from ever needing to work again. How great can that really be? Through all of the facts, I cannot help to wonder, how unrealistic can my huge opinion be, does anyone person really know what the future is to hold?

Mr. Winkle

Mr. Winkle is a short video that emphasizes how important education has been throughout the years. Although technology has changed the way we learn so much, the underlying principles are the same. Education is the basis of life, and the growth of world. It may have taken a long time to conduct a trade hundreds of years ago and only a short period of time now days, but the principle remains the same, technology is what have changed. Technology offers many different advances that make life simpler, but education is something that societies have always valued. K